Vintage Winchester help 44-40

[cephas]

S
Does anyone know of a relatively easy/cheap way to bump up the bullet diameter without resorting to individually paper jacketing each bullet?

Another thing I'm thinking is my lead might not be as soft as I thought it was. I don't have a hardness tester unfortunately.

Looking for new ideas to try.

Thanks

For cheap, I mean frugal, ballpark estimation of alloy hardness: http://forum.pafoa.org/showthread.php?t=169093

Sounds like this wouldn't be enough for your situation but 0.003" can be obtained by "beagling" the mold. Simply using aluminum tape on the face of the mold blocks. http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/HowTo/Beagling.pdf

[Marcus99]

If the bore is oversized then the chamber could be too.

[Bang]

If not wanting to change anything about the rifle chamber and bore, then custom cartridges and bullets would have to be made. Then it'll be a non-standard rifle anyway, probably resulting in a bigger loss in value than that caused by a relining. I think ability to use something in a normal fashion trumps preservation of an out-of-spec piece. It's not like it's very rare and museum-worthy.

[cdi]

'73s can be very valuable. Then again, bore condition is prized. A 73 with a toasted bore, modern links and other parts replacement is not likely something that has go to auction to see what it's worth.
A properly installed liner is almost invisible and gets the gun shooting as good or better than new. From the op's description it sounds like a liner would not affect the value of the gun at all.

[Gunsnwater]

Buy lead 45 Colt bullets at 0.452"-0.453", and get a custom sizing die for a bullet sizer-lubricator that's 0.002" greater than the bore slugs.

Noah

That's the answer.

[theunrulychef]

I don't think a liner would hurt its monetary value, probably increase it actually. According to the Cody letter, it was 28" from the factory. Someone has cut it to 21" since then, and obviously, they weren't very rigorous about cleaning the bore. Aside from my hesitance to alter an antique, having a liner put in is not in the budget right now.

I'll see about getting a sizer to go down from 45. I know the Lee ones aren't expensive. It would likely remove most of the lube grooves though. Might as well get a sized mold from Accurate if I do that. At least it would have plenty of room for lube.

[Pukindog]

"Beagle" the mold. Get heat resistant metallic tape. Cut small strips. Apply to front and back faces of the mold. Cast your bullets, mike them, if still too small you can layer the tape. If too big size to the diameter you need.
Keeps the rifle original and accuracy should be acceptable. I am sure you can check the internet for more detailed info on how to "beagle" molds.

Jeff

[psweigle]

I would try powder coating the cast bullets. It adds .001 per coat, per application, with the powder I use. If this sounds like something you want to do, pm me and I can give you the details.